American Boy
by CamTCC
Summary: Moved from now-defunct account - ALTERNATE UNIVERSE: The Marauders flee England upon hearing the prophecy. Lily, James, Remus and Sirius retreat to Salem, Massachusetts, and that's where they raise Harry. However, he still gets his Hogwarts letter in 1991. What'll a Harry Potter raised with magic and love bring with him to Hogwarts? -H/Hr-
1. Prologue

Prologue

Two people - a VERY pregnant woman and her husband - looked around their ancestral home, the Potter Manor, for the last time.

"If someone had said to me that you and I would be leaving for another country and leaving our Manor forever, I would've thought them crazy. But, thanks to that prophecy, we've got no choice." The woman looked around the foyer, smiling sadly. Her husband spoke up.

"Lily, we were told by Albus that there was a home available for purchase in Godric's Hollow-"  
"And that home isn't safe. Not with the Dark Lord out and about, love. Nowhere in England is safe. That's why we're leaving, James."  
"Alright. But I don't like it."  
"I know. Where are Sirius and Remus?"  
"Padfoot and Moony? They should already be at the airport."  
"Good." Lily Elise Evans Potter and her husband, James John Potter, glanced around the foyer one last time before walking out and shutting the door behind them. The war wards went up as they left the property, which ensured that nothing could get in or out except the house elves.

The two walked out to a car out on the street, and entered the vehicle, driving to the airport in London where Remus Lupin, a werewolf and Moony of the Marauders, waited with their closest friend Sirius Black, also known as Padfoot of the Marauders.

When they arrived, James shrunk the car and placed the thing in his pocket.

"Alright, we're here. Everybody ready?"

Moony, Padfoot and Lily nodded, and all four of the Marauders entered the airport, their last stop within England before they headed across the Atlantic to the United States.


	2. First Day at SMCS

Chapter One: First Day at Salem Magical Children's School

Four years and two months later...

Harry Potter stood outside of the Salem Magical Children's School. He had been informed by his parents and uncles that the instances of him teleporting the baby bottle off of the counter and banishing building blocks wasn't anything bad, it was just accidental magic and that he was a wizard.

The boy had been amazed when he heard that at three years old. Now he was going to be going to school with kids just like him: magical kids who were as young as he was and went all the way up to eleven years old.

As he stared at the large brick building and its glass doors, he heard his parents exit the car behind him.

"So, Harry, what do you think?"

The little boy looked up to his mother.

Lily still had the little bit of body she'd gained from carrying and giving birth to her little man, but she was still a shapely woman. Her red hair went down to the top of her pants in a ponytail, and her emerald-green eyes shined in the sunlight of that August day.

Beside her, James stood as well with the hair that would never behave. His brown eyes also shone, but at a lesser tone than his wife's thanks to his circular glasses. Harry had inherited most of his dad's looks, but he had Lily's eyes.

Said young boy spoke up excitedly.

"It's such a big building, Mama! I bet it can hold hundreds of people in it!"

James laughed at his son while Lily smiled.

"Well, maybe not that many but it still holds a lot of kids. We'd better get inside, though - we don't have much time left before school starts and you don't want to be late." Harry bounced as James shook his head.

"Don't get him excited, Lily. We'll never get him to sleep tonight otherwise." However, James himself chuckled after saying that.

"Well, at least he's enthusiastic. Remember what we feared would happen, love?" James nodded. The four Marauders (Lily had been inducted after concocting the plan to go to the USA) had all feared that Harry would be scared of the school and make every effort a four-year-old wizard could to evade having to go to school. The two parents were glad to see that those fears were unfounded (and James could tell Remus the infamous 'I told you so.').

The three walked into the school with groups of other parents and children, both groups excited for different reasons. The children were excited for two different reasons: the new students were excited for something new while the returning students were excited for another year of learning magic and being with their friends, while the parents were excited because it got the kids out of the house for seven hours and that gave them time for things that they normally couldn't do with the kids in the house.

James and Lily escorted Harry to his preschool classroom, where the teacher stood with about fifteen other preschoolers sitting on a mat with a repeating color-changing charm on it that kept said children's attention.

The teacher, Helena Johnston, noticed the family walk in.

"Hello! Are you the Potters?" Lily nodded.

"Yup. I'm Lily, the man-child over here is my husband James and this is my four-year-old son, Harry." James nodded amiably while Harry shyly waved from his position in front of his mother. He glanced around and saw a face he recognized, that of his best friend/godbrother Neville Longbottom. He waved to the boy, who stood up and made a mad dash for his brother.

"Harry! You made it!" The two hugged and Mrs. Johnston chuckled alongside the Potter parents.

"Well, Harry, Neville, we've got to be going. Tell us all about school after you get home, alright?" Lily kissed her son on his cheek - making the boy blush - and James simply ruffled the untameable black hair of his son before the couple walked out.

Harry smiled at Neville, pulling something out of the back of his jeans.

"I got my wand yesterday, Neville! Ten inches, sacred oak wood with a phoenix feather core!" Neville laughed, pulling his own out.

"Well, Mama did say that I could tell you about my wand after you got yours. Mine's eleven and a half inches, elder wood with a dragon heartstring core." The two boys shot sparks at each other, laughing, before the teacher called out.

"There'll be time for that later, you two. Come on over here, we're going to say the Pledge of Allegiance." The two boys walked over to the group and placed their right hands over their hearts, just as the teacher did, and started reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with the rest of the class.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all." The hands fell.

"Alright, children, settle down. I'm Mrs. Johnston, your teacher, and first off we're just going to learn everyone's names, alright? Sit down in a circle and I'll join you." The sixteen students sat down in a circle, Harry sitting right next to Neville with a smile.

Helena sat down between two girls who'd made a spot for her and smiled at her class.

"We'll do it like this: you say your name and one thing you like, alright? I'll start. I'm Mrs. Johnston, and I like teaching." The girl to her right spoke up first, therefore putting a counter-clockwise spin on the names.

"I'm Mariah Redstone, and I like my big brother Jacob!" Mariah had a deeper voice, even for a four-year-old.

"I'm Sam Hemel, and I like playing with my pet dog Sparky."

"I'm Alicia Barrett, and I like..."

Around the circle this went until it reached Harry and Neville.

"I'm Harry Potter, and I like playing with my uncles Moony and Padfoot." Said boy wrapped his right arm around Neville with a smile.

"I'm Neville Longbottom, and I like helping my mama with the garden at home." The last three children said their names and then Mrs. Johnston stood up, beckoning the children to follow her to the corkboard with the rules list.

"Alright, kids, now let's read the rules all together, alright?

Rule Number One, the Golden Rule: I will not do something to someone unless I would like that done to me.

Rule Number Two: Share if asked to share.

Rule Number Three: Be on time and don't wander around.

Rule Number Four: Ask to go get a drink and to go to the bathroom, don't just go.

Rule Number Five: Raise your hand to ask a question or give an answer. Don't blurt it out unless told otherwise.

Rule Number Six: No bullying allowed. This ties in to Rule Number One." After that, the woman showed the children to their desks and allowed them to put their wands on the desktops.

"Okay, kids, the first thing we'll be learning is how to make some basic spells. Who here can tell me one basic spell?" Mariah's hand shot up.

"Yes, Mariah?  
"_Lumos_!"  
"Good! Lumos is the most basic of spells, and all it takes is this!" Helena made the required flick of her hand while saying the word, and the tip of her wand lit up. The children all made oohs and aahs and she extinguished it with the counterspell, _Nox_.

"Okay, now who can tell me another?" Harry raised his hand.

"Harry?"  
"_Finite_."  
"Good! _Finite_ is used to cancel basically any spell. All you need to do is point your wand at a spelled object and say: _Finite_! Try _Lumos_, _Nox_, and _Finite_ now. I'll enchant your desks with a simple color-changing charm so you can try _Finite_." For the next fifteen minutes, the children got down the incantations and wand movements for the three most basic of spells. Harry naturally got the incantations down pat quickly, practicing the first two with the spare eleven minutes he had left over. Neville, on the other hand, took ten minutes to get all three down.

After this lesson, the children were started by Helena on mathematics, and after that, phonics and their English classwork. Eventually, it got all the way to history.

Harry was excited for this one. He always loved hearing about the past.

"Okay, children, settle down and put your English books away in your desks. I'll pass out your history books in just a minute." The woman walked over to the cabinet to the left of the door, pulling out a stack of sixteen thin children's history books. She put one on everyone's desks and returned to the front of the room to write on the blackboard.

"Please turn to page one in your books and silently read the paragraph there." The children started reading slowly. Helena looked at her watch.

Eventually, five slow minutes passed by and every one of the sixteen students was looking at their teacher.

"Alright, so I see you've read the content. Can anyone tell me what it says?" Mariah raised her hand again, and Helena picked her again.

"History is the recording of the past, writing down that which has happened. Without history, we wouldn't know how we got here or how we do things. With history, we can read about the brave soldiers of the Army or the Great Depression. With history, we can figure out where we've been and it can help us to go forward." Helena nodded after Mariah finished.

"Good, good."

Too soon (for the kids), 3:15 PM rolled around and with it the end of the school day.

Harry and Neville's parents stood at the curb, waiting for their children to run out and when they did, Lily and Alice caught the two four-year-old missiles.

"Hey, son. How'd school go?" Harry laughed.

"It was so cool! We got to do a few basic spells, and we got to learn some history!" Lily laughed alongside her husband and Alice and Frank.

"Well, seems as though the children enjoyed school. We'll be heading home now, you three." The Longbottom family walked off to their own vehicle, got in, and drove off to their home. The three Potters soon followed their close friends' example and drove off to their own home.

As the three entered, they were approached by a behemoth black dog who suddenly licked Harry quite sloppily. The boy laughed and wiped himself off.

"Hey, Padfoot!" The dog made a barking laugh and transformed into Sirius Black, one of Harry's two uncles. The other one walked in and smiled at seeing Sirius pick up and hug Harry.

"Harry had fun, I think, Moony."  
"Yeah, seems that way, Feathers." Lily laughed and transformed into a beautiful white eagle and flew off towards the second floor of the home, towards the library, before turning back to Lily.

James shook his head in amusement as he saw his wife fly off.

"Hey, Remus - I told you so. Harry wasn't scared at all. In fact, he was quite enthusiastic and still is." The cautious werewold shook his own head in amusement, walking forward and taking Harry from Sirius. The man had the decency to look astonished.

"Hey, give me back my pup!" The two playfully fought over Harry and Remus won, with Sirius stalking off towards the living room while James heartily laughed at this. The two men walked into the kitchen, where Remus set Harry down and let the boy run off while he and James grabbed cups of coffee.

"Really does seem like little Harry had fun." James nodded and took a sip of his drink.

"Any contact from Albus while we were gone?" Remus nodded.

"Fawkes flamed in a minute after you left. He's up in your bedroom, waiting for you to take the message off of his leg." James nodded and, in one big swig, drank the rest of his coffee. He set down his cup and walked into the living room to see Sirius shouting at the TV, which was playing an American football game - which was between the San Francisco 49ers and the St. Louis Rams.

"Come on! Go, go, go! Damn!"  
"Having fun yelling at the TV, Sirius?"  
"Wha? Oh, hey, James. The Rams are fifteen yards from a touchdown and the 49ers' defense is on point today. They've got fourteen points while the Rams only have three. I want the Rams to win." James laughed. While he had never really gotten into sports, Sirius had taken to American football like a fish to water. Probably because of the fact that there was tackling and running for your life in the game.

"Well, I'll head up to my bedroom and see what Fawkes has for me from Albus. Probably the same thing he's saying every time, 'come back and defeat Voldemort' and all that. We left the country because of that damn prophecy! We're not coming back until he's gone!" James walked up the stairs while Sirius returned to the game.

Entering his and Lily's bedroom, James smiled at the sight of the phoenix.

"Hi, Fawkes. Whatcha got for me?" The bird stuck his left leg out and James untied the letter on it.

"_To the Potter Family:_

_Your wish has been granted. I have reluctantly taken the steps to stop the Dark Lord and he has been defeated, but not without a huge loss._

_A wizarding family has defeated Voldemort with my help, but all three members of the family are dead. The parents were killed first, allowing the baby child to both take and rebound a Killing Curse from and to the Dark Lord. The baby is dead, but so is the Dark Lord._

_I'm sorry to say that most of the Death Eaters have gone to Azkaban. They could've been redeemed but they did things that were severe enough to warrant their placement there._

_Best wishes,_

_Albus Dumbledore_  
_Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards_  
_Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot_  
_Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_"

James laid the letter down and blinked.

Voldemort was dead.

The war was over.

All because a family invoked obscure magics meant to protect a child from death.

Only the child didn't survive.

James ran his hand over his face. Suddenly, his good mood was trampled over by bright purple robes with stars and moons on them.

He quickly walked over to his desk to pen a reply.

"_To Albus Dumbledore:_

_That's amazing news, but it's not going to bring us back to England. We're all set up here in the United States and we've got Harry in elementary school. To pull him out now would be unthinkable._

_He's already made friends with the Longbottoms' kid, Neville._

_Still, thank you for the news._

_Thanks,_

_James Potter_"

He folded the letter, put it in an envelope, and closed the envelope before tying it to the phoenix's leg. Fawkes nuzzled his friend before flaming to Harry, nuzzling and cooing to the young wizard, and then flaming back to Dumbledore.

Lily walked into the bedroom, seeing James standing and shaking his head.

"James? What's wrong?" She wrapped her arms around her husband's shoulders from behind, and the man sighed.

"We just got a letter from Albus. Read it, love." He handed her the parchment, and Lily was astonished as well.

"At least the war's over. What did you write back to him?"  
"Only that we're too entrenched here in the USA. Harry's in school now and to pull him out wouldn't be good, my love." Lily kissed her husband's cheek before moving around to stand in front of him.

"Good. You know, that's the best thing you could've said." The two then shared a passionate kiss before James' hand drifted down to Lily's abdomen.

"How far along are you now?"  
"Only two and a half months, James. I won't be showing for at least another half a month." Lily was pregnant again with another member of the Potter family, and she was ecstatic at being able to give Harry a little sibling.

However, she didn't really like having the morning sickness a second time or the accursed mood swings.

The family of five was a happy family. Harry ran around the house when he wasn't in school, playing with the large black stuffed wolf he'd gotten from Sirius when he was only two.

Sirius, during football season, could be found in the family room watching the latest football game.

Remus was normally found in his office at the end of each month, tallying up the expenses and income.

Lily stayed in the library most of the time brewing the Wolfsbane potion every month for Remus and just generally reading. James usually sat with her, and when he wasn't he went to the basement and their training room they'd built in order to keep his skills as sharp as possible due to his being in the American Department of Magical Law Enforcement (DMLE).

The next few years would be uneventful, mostly...

**A/N: First Harry Potter story of mine, and I think this turned out quite well for a 'first' (second really) chapter. Yes, I made the Longbottoms go to America, too. The thought is that Albus, upon losing the four Marauders to America, told the prophecy to Frank and Alice, who promptly followed their friends' example and fled across the Atlantic.**

**Next chapter will be the major events that happen between 1984, when Harry starts school at the SMCS, and 1991, when Harry's Hogwarts letter arrives at the house. Hermione comes in during a shopping trip to Diagon Alley in chapter three.**

**Until then.**

**Chapter Control Offline...**


	3. Through The Years

Chapter Three: Over the Years

-1984-

Harry and Neville slowly made their way through magical preschool, showing aptitudes for learning.

Harry himself had an affinity for their morning spell sessions.

Neville loved the outdoor activities, because he had an affinity for plants and Helena would always let him wander off to the school gardens and retrieve him when it was time to go in.

They also made new friends, too.

Prime example was Mariah Redstone, the young and loud brunette they'd met that first day. She was every bit loud and boisterous, and proud of it too. Her older brother, Jacob Redstone, was in fifth grade in the school. He was a history prodigy, and as such loved reading about historical battles - and the history of magic in the USA.

Magic in the States was kind of an open secret. In fact, the only Statute of Secrecy the USA had was that magicals couldn't go about practicing magic in front of non-magicals unless said non-magicals were their family or close friends. Magic was very prevalent in everyday life. There were magical construction companies capable of setting an entire two-story house up in one day. Magicals were even in the military, with two of the highest ranking officers - a Fleet Admiral of the Navy and a four-star General of the Army - being magicals, and there being specific magical units in the US military.

Back to school. Harry and Neville quickly befriended Mariah and they became a favored trio - where one went, so did the others. They sat next to each other in every class. They sat together at lunch. They even spent time at each others' houses and, every weekend, the three would stay at one of their houses. Harry's was the first weekend they thought of this, and then Neville's, and then Mariah's, and the cycle repeated.

It was in school, however, where Harry got his first taste of bullying.

It was April, and there was a big event going on at the school - a magical Olympiad, where the class levels competed for prizes and priviledges.

Harry, Neville and Mariah stood on the grass of the football field of the nearby Salem Magical Institute. The field was ringed by a running track a quarter of a mile long, and there were running events taking place on the track.

The three preschoolers were on the magical dodgeball team, simply due to their proficiency in spellcasting and aiming.

Magical dodgeball was played with ten small latex-covered foam balls, and the students banished them back and forth and tried to knock out the other team. In effect, it was magical tennis until someone got hit by the flying black latex-covered foam balls.

As more and more students and staff walked out of the SMCS building, one second-grader made his way over to the three four-year-olds.

"Hey, squirts, you're a long way from your teacher. What're you doing over here?" The boy's voice had a less-than-cordial edge to it. Harry didn't take too well to that.

"Hey! You leave my friends alone!" He brandished his sacred oak wand, and the bully laughed.

"What're you gonna do to me? Hit me with a _Lumos_?" Harry growled, his left arm shepherding Mariah behind him.

"I've got worse!" The older boy laughed and sent a stunning hex towards Harry, who jumped and sent a _Depulso_ at the boy, who flew backwards in surprise from the hex. He landed on the ground and stood when he could, glaring daggers at Harry.

"Just you wait, tiny! I'll be back!" The boy ran off, and Harry's arms fell while he put his wand away.

Helena walked over to her three students.

"What was that, Mr. Potter?"  
"Mrs. Johnston, that boy was saying bad things. I defended myself!"  
"Hmm. As it stands, you did just hit him with a banishing hex. I'll let you off with a warning. Please don't do it again." She walked off, but not before looking back and speaking again.

"Oh, you three - the dodgeball team's looking for you. Follow me, I'll take you to them." The three four-year-olds shared a glance and walked off after their teacher.

"Jacob, they're all yours."

Helena stopped in front of the five older children who made up the magical dodgeball team of the SMCS. She was speaking to the team captain, Jacob Redstone, also known as Mariah's older brother.

"Thanks, ma'am. Hey, Harry, Neville, Mariah. We're just talking about the strategy we're gonna be using against the Boston team. C'mon." The three walked forward into the huddle, and Jacob spoke up in a hushed tone.

"So, as I was saying, you two run interference for these three youngsters. Harry, Neville, Mariah, you three use your size and speed to outrun the balls going for you and throw your own back, alright?" The trio nodded, looking serious as they caught a glimpse of the Boston Magical Elementary team walking on to the field.

The first event was the dodgeball game, and it was a glorious victory for the SMCS team. The trio got the most hits in and weren't taken out at all, making the game a skunk (in other words, a shutout) in the favor of the Salem team. The older students hoisted the three preschoolers on their shoulders as they trooped to the stands in happiness.

The rest of the Olympiad was a mess of running events, a short tackle football game and a few other track and field events like the shotput. Overall, the Salem team won but the Boston team made them work for it.

The rest of the school year for the preschoolers was uneventful except for Harry's twin baby siblings, Morgan and Angelina, being born in early February. The preschool class moved up to kindergarten, and as such more assignments and work but also more activities.

-1986-

1985 was an entirely uneventful year for the trio. Nothing of worth happened, and the kindergarteners finally graduated to first grade. However, this year there was a couple of incidents that kept the school talking throughout the entire school year.

The first was the Space Shuttle _Challenger_ disaster, back in January. A space shuttle, carrying the first Teacher in Space, exploded seventy-three seconds into its flight killing all seven crewmembers. Harry, Neville and Mariah had wanted to partake in the lessons that teacher and astronaut Christa McAuliffe was going to be giving from in space, but the explosion kinda shut that down.

The other was the Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR. A nuclear reactor melted down and caused two steam explosions, exposing the graphite used in the reactor to air, causing it to ignite and send radiation all over Europe. Harry had heard of it through his parents, who'd gotten a letter from Dumbledore about the sicknesses that had taken place because of the disaster.

At lunch in December, Harry was talking to Neville and Mariah about what he heard through his dad and his connection to the government about the _Challenger_ disaster.

"I heard they had an investigation on it back before the summer. They called it the Rogers Commission and it had the first man on the moon." Neville looked intrigued, while Mariah just listened while eating her tater tots.

"Apparently, this rubber thing on the rocket was broken or something which caused the space shuttle to explode. It pushed one of the rockets into that big orange tank, breaking it open and causing the entire thing to blow up." Neville nodded as he took a bite of his own lunch. Harry's empty tray sat in front of him.

"So, the shuttle exploded back in January thanks to this damaged rubber thing that caused one of the two rockets to break open the huge orange tank on the shuttle and blow it up?" Harry nodded.

"None of the seven crew survived. And I was so looking forward to the Teacher in Space lessons..." Harry made a fake pout, which Mariah stopped by shoving her fork - which had a couple of tater tots on it - into his mouth.

"Oh, quiet, you. I'm trying to eat here. It's nice and all that you got to hear about that commission or whatever about the shuttle disaster but it's eleven months in the past now, guys." Harry rolled his eyes and let his friend take her fork from his mouth and he swallowed the two tots she'd left in his mouth from her fork before turning back to his tray and picking it up.

In history that day, the class started to go over the US space programs in simple enough lessons for the first graders to comprehend. Harry, Neville and Mariah all headed to their homes with a lot to tell their parents after that school day.

That night - a Friday night - the three sat in Harry's room in his home and talked about their future plans.

"So, where do you think we'll be in a few years?" Mariah, from her perch on Harry's bed, shrugged.

"I always think of going to the Salem Institute and graduating with high enough honors to be able to be part of one of the Army's magical units. Ever since I saw one of those in the book in first year, I kinda started to want to be that. If only to help protect those who can't." Neville, who was relaxed and laying between her legs with his head resting on her abdomen, nodded.

"Yeah, that fascinated me too, but I can't not see me working with plants. I kinda like working with 'em - both the magical ones my parents have introduced to me and the non-magical ones we've seen. I'm especially interested in the magical Sun Flower. It's supposed to be able to use sunlight to absorb energy that can then be bottled up. That Sun Flower Energy is, apparently, a big potions ingredient - especially in the Pepper-Up Potion." Harry nodded, sitting at the end of his bed with an NES controller in hand and the original Super Mario Bros. on the screen - specifically, Mario bouncing on a Koopa shell in World 3-1 in the infamous infinite lives trick.

"I'm not too worried about the future right now, but I think I'd like to be an astronaut. Those people have to be so brave just to get in that shuttle and trust in technology to go into space." The two laying back on the pillows nodded, and Harry suddenly groaned as he got no score from the time as he had only had one second left when he jumped on the flagpole to end the level - albeit with tons of lives.

Neville and Mariah smiled at their friend's answer from their perch on the bed before Lily stuck her head into the room. The woman smiled at seeing Harry playing his game console while his two friends watched him.

"Guys, it's getting close to midnight. Finish whatever level you're on, Harry, and then turn it off. Then I want you three to get some sleep, alright?" Harry nodded while the two laying on the bed gave verbal affirmatives, and Lily pulled her head back and closed the door. Harry finished level 3-2 in very quick succession and shut off the NES.

Neville and Mariah shifted, allowing Harry to lay down to the right of the girl. Harry pulled his glasses - thankfully not the same design as his dad's, more of a rectangular shape - off and set them on his nightstand, pulling the covers out from under both Neville and Mariah and crawling under them. Neville moved off of his spot on Mariah's abdomen and relocated to the girl's left, then crawling under the covers as well.

Within a minute, all three were sleeping peacefully.

They had no idea what the next few years leading up to 1991 would hold.

-1989-

1987 and 1988 were also unremarkable years. 1989, however, held quite a few notable incidents including Harry's biggest school incident to date and Sirius' marriage (well, the wedding was in January and also featured Susan Bones, Sirius' fiancee's niece, coming to live with the family).

The former was cultivated when the young Potter twins, in kindergarten, were approached by a bully while in the halls talking to their older brother - and this was the younger brother of the bully Harry had hit with a _Depulso_ back in preschool.

"Lookie here... we've got a couple of squirts out in the halls." Harry turned to the boy and brandished his sacred oak wand, the same as he did that day five years ago. Said fifth-grader turned to Harry.

"And who do you think you are? I'm way more powerful than you, so scram before I hurt you too." Harry shook his head and pulled his siblings behind him. Morgan held onto his left arm while Angelina buried her face into her brother's back.

"No one talks that way to my siblings or me. Now you scram." The boy laughed and fired off a stinging hex, which Harry banished back at the boy. This spell-tennis eventually, after a minute, devolved into a physical brawl that left Harry with a few bruises while the bully had a few cuts and multiple huge bruises as well as a black eye.

The third-grade teacher, Mr. Hobson, walked out after the injured boy had fallen.

"Mr. Potter, what seems to be the problem here?" Harry gestured to the fallen bully.

"Sir, he had intent to hurt my little twin sisters, both behind me. I only defended my family." The older man shook his head.

"And I thought that he'd learn his lesson after his brother had gotten banished across the field while you were still just a preschooler... Mr. Potter, I am giving you a thirty-minute detention that you can serve with me instead of having recess. Your parents will be notified as well." The injured bully limped off, swearing underneath his breath that he'd get revenge on Harry.

"Now that he's gone, I've got something to say on a more personal note. That was very brave of you, Harry. He wanted to hurt your sisters yet you bravely stood up to him and literally beat him back. I guarantee he won't be doing anything for the rest of the school year." Harry beamed at the praise while he picked up Morgan, who wrapped her smaller arms around his neck and held close to her big brother.

Neville and Mariah walked out of the classroom after Hobson walked back in, and Neville winced as he saw one of the bruises on Harry's arm.

"What happened, Harry?"  
"Nothing much, except a bully tried and failed to hurt my little sisters. I showed him what-for and beat him into submission." Neville nodded as Mariah walked forward with a tiny Fawkes in her hand.

The phoenix had arrived at the Potter household in 1987, and had immediately bonded with Harry. Said bird explained that Dumbledore's decisions that lead to the pardoning of many Death Eaters in England and his mentality of forgiving any-and-everyone had grated on the bird's sense of honor so much that he had broken his bond and escaped to America, where he'd promptly bonded with young Harry. He had just molted the night before, leaving him a cute but amazingly mature little phoenix chick.

Three tiny tears landed on Harry's bruise on his arm, healing the superficial damage. Harry thanked his familiar, and the tiny bird trilled in happiness - which turned to contentment as Harry stroked Fawkes' feathers.

Morgan reached out to pet the bird as well, which made her twin shyly reach out and touch the warm feathers of the baby-form phoenix.

After that, the Potter children were left alone in school along with Neville and Mariah and the latter became a very young but cute couple. Neville had asked Mariah out on a date to a diner on the edge of town and she'd gone with him to a good night. The two were dating ever since then.

However, what was bigger was one of Sirius' friends from the British Ministry, DMLE Director Amelia Bones, coming to visit her close friend - who turned out to be her fiance. The two hadn't lost any time over the nine years that Sirius, Remus and the Potter family had been in the United States. In fact, that made their reunion all that more special.

It was a cold December 23rd. The children had been let out for winter break, and were spending the season at Harry's place. Every year, the three would stay at either the Longbottoms' place, the Redstones' place or the Potters' place in that order. That year it was the last of the three.

Harry, Mariah and Neville were sitting in his room in their normal configuration: Mariah layed back against the headboard of her and Neville's bed with said boy laying down between her legs while his head lay on her abdomen and Harry was playing his NES. Fawkes was perched in his special phoenix nest, watching his bonded play a video game.

Harry was startled into pausing his game and the two on their bed were startled into sitting up fully when they heard the front door open.

"My parents aren't supposed to be back for another hour, and Remus is out on a grocery shopping run." They heard a muffled voice that was obviously the football-obsessed Sirius and a muffled feminine shriek. The three shared a look and bolted downstairs to see what the problem was.

They hid behind the arch in the living room, watching as Sirius held up and twirled a woman around the kitchen with said woman's arms around his neck.

"Amelia, this is an amazing surprise!" The woman had long brown hair with very few gray streaks in it. Her monocle was sitting on the kitchen island, and her coat was forgotten on one of the stools around said island.

Amelia squeaked a bit more as Sirius planted a passionate kiss on her lips (Harry didn't need to see that, Neville and Mariah got ideas) and set her down on the ground, only then letting her loose.

"I thought that I'd like to visit you and all that. So, is this your own place, or...?"  
"It's not just my place - it's all four of us Marauders' place. We inducted Lily after she got us to move here nine years ago. Of course, we also have Harry and his two twin younger sisters here too. Morgan and Angelina are out shopping with Remus, and Harry's upstairs with his two friends Neville and Mariah." Just then, Harry had sneakily sent a stinging hex at Sirius' backside and caused the man to whip his head around.

He caught sight of a laughing Harry and roared.

"Why you little...!" He wanted to run after the three kids who took off upstairs but didn't get to because Amelia pulled him back to her and planted her lips on his again - which quickly and efficiently dissipated his playful anger. He was also pleasantly dazed when the two broke apart.

"So, that was-"  
"Harry. And those two friends of his, Neville Longbottom and Mariah Redstone."  
"Oh? So the Longbottoms finally started a family?"  
"Yep."

The two retreated to the living room where they sat (and Sirius taught Amelia the rules and intricacies of American football and let her watch that night's game) until Remus, the twins and the Potter parents came home all at once.

"We're home!"

This brought Harry, Neville and Mariah downstairs to help Remus and the twins with the groceries while James and Lily had just returned from work.

"Hey, you three. What's been going on?" In response to his father's question, Harry pointed to the living room where Amelia and Sirius sat on the couch watching the latest football game.

Lily was the first one to speak, however.

"Amelia? Is that you?" The woman in the living room turned around and smiled warmly as she caught sight of the other three adults in the Potter family.

"Lily, James, Remus. It's nice to see you all again." The Director of the DMLE got up with Sirius, but only she shared a hug with the three adults while Sirius stood back.

-1990-

The wedding of Sirius Black and Amelia Bones took place in January, and brought about a visit by quite a few Hogwarts professors and friends of not only Sirius and Amelia, but the Potters as well. The only one not present was Wormtail, or Peter Pettigrew, as he'd retreated to his master.

The day of the wedding, it was an unnaturally warm day of forty-three degrees Fahrenheit. Only light jackets were needed in place of heavy coats.

The two were to be married in an outdoor venue, warded off by a combination of Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout, and (surprisingly) Severus Snape. All four Heads of House came together to provide the wards for the safety of the wedding.

As usual, Neville and Mariah were present, and the entire trio was part of the wedding; Harry and Neville were two of Sirius' groomsmen while Mariah was one of Amelia's bridesmaids. Young they may have been, but nothing could be said about their stature. Ever since Harry had first stood up to a bully in preschool, he'd become surprisingly mature for a kid. Sure, he still had his vices (the NES console, really), but he was acting like someone quite a few years older than him would. As such, he'd influenced his two closest friends.

Neville and Mariah had been maturing quickly as well, and they'd made sure not to have too many displays of public affection (cutting those down even more in the presence of her father, who still didn't approve of his little girl already having a boyfriend but he could do nothing a la his wife). This maturity earned their places on the groomsmen and bridesmaids, respectively.

Lily herself was Amelia's maid of honor, while James was called to be Sirius' best man. As such, the Potter patriarch had his best man's speech all drawn up and ready to go.

There were three bridesmaids and three groomsmen each. Sirius' were obvious choices - Remus, Harry and Neville. Amelia's included not only Mariah, but her niece Susan as well as her good friend Hestia Jones, another British Auror.

Harry groaned as he looked at his nine-year-old sized watch. There was still ten minutes to go before the ceremony started, and he was getting very uncomfortable in his tuxedo. The thing was a basic black tux... with yellow accents. Harry didn't know what possessed Sirius to have such a bright accent color, but it surprisingly meshed well with the white and black of the rest of the tuxedo.

About six inches behind him, Neville shook his head and leaned forward to whisper into his brother's ear.

"Harry, you've groaned twice in the past five minutes. We've only got about nine and a half minutes left. Start thinking of something and the time will pass, alright?" Harry discretely nodded, as Remus and even Sirius fidgeted a bit.

The ceremony started nine minutes later, and started with the flower girls, the Potter twins, walking out ahead of the bridesmaids, liberally sprinkling around deep red flower petals. They took their position behind and to the right of the officiator, who was Minerva.

Then the three bridesmaids came along, in this order: Hestia, Susan, Mariah. The three were matched as to which groomsmen they'd be having the first dance with.

Then the maid of honor came out.

James promptly goggled at his wife, who wore a cream-colored strapless dress that had a tiny bit of poof. Lily's answering blush snapped James out of his stupor, and that's when the bridal march started.

Two figures appeared in the door, one wreathed in white, the other in black.

Since Amelia's father wasn't around, she'd gotten Hogwarts' resident Potions Master to be the man to give her away.

Severus was actually genuinely smiling, and it looked quite nice on the normally so stoic man's face. He wore a black tuxedo with black accents, and looked quite dashing. His hair wasn't even greasy.

It was Amelia, however, who grabbed the looks.

She was adorned in a white dress with lace covering the shoulders and everything above the breasts. Her hair was done up in a bun on the back of her head, a veil over her face attached to a tiara sparkling with rhinestones.

Her bouquet had both cream-colored roses and bloodred roses, and was stunning. The two white ribbons woven into the item were beautiful on their own, and they just accentuated the complimenting red and cream roses.

She was wearing elbow-length white gloves, which didn't do much but looked nice on her. Her shoes were two-inch white heels that had a single rhinestone on the toe sections.

Her train didn't even reach the floor, and she didn't want it to when she had the dress designed. She didn't relish the idea of some idiot coming to her wedding and accidentally stepping on her dress and both ripping it and tripping her up.

The march ended as Severus and Amelia stood at the base of the altar.

"Who gives this woman away?" Minerva asked, which started the whole procedure.

Severus bowed a few inches.

"I, Severus Snape, do, madam." The man gently kissed Amelia's right hand knuckles, which made her blush a bit. The Head of Slytherin House retreated to the seat Pomona had saved for him, and he sat down with a little unintended flourish.

Everyone had to keep from chuckling a bit at that.

Minerva was no exception, and when she'd gotten control back from that moment of amusement, she started up again.

"Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today to witness the union, magical and mundane, of this man, Sirius Orion Black, and this woman, Amelia Susan Bones, in holy matrimony. Excuse my language, but if anyone has any gripe about these two being married, speak now or forever hold your peace." You could practically hear the crickets chirping at this, and Minerva smiled a tiny bit.

"Very well. We will start with the vows. Sirius, we will start with you. I believe you and Amelia had written up your own vows for this?" The groom nodded, and took a breath before taking his bride's hands.

"Amelia, we were brought together by a need for companionship, but since then we've become amazingly close. You've always grounded me when I needed it. You've always kept me on the straight and narrow. For that, I can never thank or love you enough. As we take this next step, I pledge my love, life and magic to you." Minerva grew a few tears, and nodded at Amelia.

"Sirius, you were a scoundrel and a womanizer when I met you. Fresh outta Hogwarts by only a few years, but since then you've changed a lot. You have been at my side not only when I needed it, but wanted it (mostly.) You've given me fun, and kept my mind unburdened by the stress required by our work. For that, I can never thank or love you enough. As we take this next step, I pledge my love, life and magic to you." Amelia had happy tears of her own, and Sirius saw them for what they were.

Minerva turned to Angelina, the younger of the twins.

"May we have the rings, please?" The five-year-old girl reverently held up a pillow holding both golden wedding bands. Sirius took the one on the left, while Amelia took the one on the right.

"Sirius, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed."

Sirius placed the ring on his bride's hand while repeating the six words.

"Amelia, repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed."

Amelia did exactly what Sirius did.

Minerva now withdrew her old wand from its holster on her inner left forearm.

"Now, by the laws of both mundane and magic, I pronounce you two husband and wife. Sirius, I know you've been waiting for this, so... You may kiss your bride." As soon as Sirius and Amelia's lips touched, they were wreathed in a bright golden bubble covering just them. And, for the two newlyweds, time stopped for what seemed like an eternity as their kiss went just beyond chaste and entered into passionate, with their tongues battling it out for a grand total of two minutes before their noses couldn't pull in enough oxygen to keep them from passing out eventually. They broke apart, and the bubble shrank until it became no more.

Claps erupted from the crowd, and there were at least a couple of wolf-whistles through the applause.

The reception was beautiful, and it had mundane music playing which the magicals thought was amazing.

The first song was a familiar one to those who've seen the film _Dirty Dancing_ \- the ending dance's theme, "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life."

The newlyweds and their respective bridal/groom parties danced. Harry was found paired with Susan Bones, while Hestia found herself in Remus' strong arms and the already-established couple of Mariah and Neville twirled around the floor.

The newly wedded couple even recreated the infamous maneuver where the man held his woman up in the air while she had her arms out to the side like wings. They'd had to practice that one for quite a while before they'd gotten it down.

The rest of the night was filled with fun, music and dancing, and family and friends. Harry was found to linger towards the entrance to the building where the reception was being held, just waiting for the chance to make a run for it. And make a run for it he did - about halfway through the reception, he silently opened the door, dashed to its other side, and silently shut the door. No one noticed his absence until Lily questioned about where he was, which was when Susan decided to look for him.

No one knew where he was, not even Neville and Mariah, who usually knew where he was at any given moment.

In all actuality, Harry was in his parents' car with a notebook and pen in hand. He liked to write, ever since second grade in SMCS where he'd gotten an idea from his NES and playing the original Super Mario Bros. with Neville.

Susan exited the building in search of Harry, who saw her exit the building and dropped down to the floor of the car. He continued his writing down there.

She didn't find him for a whole five and a half minutes, until she had the bright idea of looking into the Potter family vehicle, where she'd remembered seeing Harry walk out of earlier in the day with a notebook and pen on the seat.

And she found him, laying there on the floor, writing in a trance where the only thing he saw was his notebook and the only thing he heard was pen to paper and, once in a while, the flipping of the paper to a new page.

The girl watched him for two minutes before opening the door and physically dragging Harry out of the car by his foot. This snapped the nine-year-old out of his trance and he whipped around as fast as he could only to see his corresponding bridesmaid dragging him out of the car.

"Hey! Let go!" She didn't, and he landed on his front with his notebook and pen landing on his head. Harry grunted, and pulled his notebook and pen off of his head before looking up at his new godsister.

"Susan, what was that for?"  
"You've been missing for about half an hour now. Why didn't you tell any of us where you were going?"  
"Uhm... because it was getting awkward in there and I didn't want to have to stay in there?"

Susan shook her head in amusement.

"Only you, Harry. Only you would feel awkward in there, with not only your parents but your two closest friends and god-relatives in there. Well, come on and come back inside. Your mother was looking for you." Harry groaned but stood up, brushing himself off. He closed his notebook and set the pen in the spiral part before holding it in his left as he walked in.

Lily caught sight of her oldest child as he was reluctantly led in by Susan, and beckoned the two over to where she was sitting with the twins behind her talking to Neville and Mariah.

Behind Susan, Harry grumbled something about being interrupted in the middle of writing. Said godsister only turned her head and glanced at her corresponding groomsman, which quickly shut him up as they approached.

"Harry, I'd like for you to meet someone. This is Minerva McGonagall, Transfiguration Professor and Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, a magical school in Britain. It's basically the Salem Institute, but in Britain." The green-robed professor smiled at Harry.

Lily wasn't done, however.

"She's also your godgrandmother. She was your father's godmother, and we asked her to be your godgrandmother. She's very nice and both your father and I were - and still are - close friends with her." Minerva held her hand out for Harry to shake.

"Hello, Harry."  
"Hello, Professor."  
"Oh, don't call me that. We're not at Hogwarts, so please - call me Granny Min." Harry blushed a bit at this, but eagerly did so.

"Thanks, Granny Min. So, you're the Transfiguration professor?"

Harry struck up an interesting conversation with the older woman, who was astounded at what the boy knew.

The reception ended later, and Harry had asked for Minerva to not only try and get him accepted at Hogwarts, but Neville and Mariah as well and, in a few years after he'd be accepted, his twin sisters. The older woman revealed that she was the one handling acceptance to the school, and she affirmed that they'd get their letters when everyone else got them as well as a portkey to The Leaky Cauldron, a tavern in London, so they had a place to stay until school started.

Harry finally relaxed when the Marauder family, grown by the two Bones women, returned to the house. Susan had quickly claimed an empty bedroom as far away from Sirius and Amelia's bedroom as possible, and her choice was coincidentally right next to Harry's.

The Longbottom and Redstone parents were notified of their children hoping to attend Hogwarts, and both gave their assent that their children would be able to go.

As a head start from being away from their parents, Neville and Mariah were able to stay with the Marauder family through the rest of the school year, the summer, the next school year and the summer after that.

The pair quickly set themselves up more than they already were in Harry's room.

-1991-

All too quickly, 1991 rolled around.

Harry, Neville and Mariah quickly sped through their fifth grade year at the Salem Magical Children's School, anticipating getting their Hogwarts letters that summer.

As Neville and Harry's birthdays rolled around, they had both received brooms from their parents - a Cleansweep Six for Neville, and a Nimbus 2000 for Harry.

Two years before, the boys and Mariah - along with the rest of their class - were introduced to the joyous and dangerous sport known as Quidditch. All three of them tried out for it, but only Neville and Harry stuck with it. Neville was an awesome Chaser, while Harry was a master at being a Seeker. He was even better than his own Seeker of a father - which was saying something.

The three's Hogwarts letters arrived at the house through owl post, which explained the large brown bird's presence on the kitchen island that morning of August 6th.

Amelia was the first one to see them, actually, as she got ready to go out the kitchen door and take her portkey to the British Ministry and her work as the Director of the DMLE.

"Harry! Neville! Mariah! Your Hogwarts letters are here, and so is the delivery bird!" The woman was bumrushed by three excited eleven-year-olds as they each opened their letters. They were personalized by Minerva herself, and showcased the crests of the four Houses as well as Hogwarts' own. The supply lists were on the back.

"Well, this is it. We get to go to England and see this Leaky Cauldron and their Diagon Alley."

**A/N: That's the end of Chapter Two. Next chapter, the three finally get to see Diagon Alley, the British HQ of Gringotts, and Hermione - and also get to finally get shipped out on the Hogwarts Express to the castle. Thank you all for sticking with me so far - now we're getting into this. Obviously, this goes through all seven Hogwarts years - or, at least, as many as can be before the infamous Horcrux Hunt.**

**Harry's growing into his own already thanks to his love of writing and being either alone or with only one to three people. Hermione will fit into that.**

**Anyway, I don't know what house I'll put Harry in. Just don't expect Slytherin, because he'll have the same exact reaction that he had in canon to Draco. Other than that, it's fair game - and my three stooges-in-the-head are already fighting over it. One's vouching for Gryffindor, one's vouching for Ravenclaw, and one's vouching for Hufflepuff. I don't know which'll win, but that oughta get amusing.**

**And I won't be using British terms, simply because I don't understand or know most of them and I'm American. Until the next chapter, then.**

**Chapter Control Offline...**


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